'It's not fair': Woman assaulted for trying to stop harassment says more people need to stand up

A woman who suffered broken teeth and a black eye in an assault after she stood up for a woman being harassed on a bus wants the city and members of the public to do more to help prevent similar incidents from happening.

On Saturday, Walker says a man on the Number 11 bus started sexually harassing a female passenger.

"I hate to see women being treated like that. I hate the concept of sexual harassment," she said.

She waited for several minutes, hoping someone on the crowded bus would step in.

"There was a bus driver, not just the driver driving the bus, but there was also a second bus driver, I guess taking the bus to his route, or whatever."

Eventually, Walker stood up and put herself between the man and the woman he was harassing. Walker and the man got into a verbal argument.

"It kind of got heated, like I was swearing, I was throwing insults, because he was you know being stupid."

That's when another man on the bus got upset and started arguing with Walker. The man punched Walker in the face before getting off the bus near Balmoral Street and Portage Avenue.

The blow shattered seven of Walker's teeth and left her with a black eye.

Walker says she shouldn't have needed to put herself in harm's way to stop the sexual harassment of a woman.

"I think that more men need to stand up for women. Women shouldn't have to put themselves at risk for violence standing up to someone like that. It's not fair," she said.

Punched in the face after defending woman harassed on bus

7 years ago

Duration 1:54

A Winnipeg woman says she was standing up for another woman who was being harassed on a Transit bus when a single punch from a stranger shattered seven of her teeth.

Walker says she thinks most of the other passengers didn't realize what was happening, and didn't understand why she was getting involved.

"So I think there was a lot of annoyance that I had interrupted their trip."

The fact that the bus was crowded might have contributed to the incident, Walker said. She would like to see more buses added to reduce crowding on the bus.

She would also like to see more security added to buses.

Coun. Marty Morantz chairs the city's transit advisory committee. He's pushing for better security on buses.

It's tragic when something like this happens and I think it shocks Winnipeggers for sure- Const. Rob Carver, Winnpieg Police 

"I'm sorry to say that there are incidents that take place on buses and we want to do everything that we can to minimize this type of thing," he said.

The city has already added more transit supervisors and Winnipeg police ride some buses while on patrol, but Morantz says more could be done.

Walker says she's heard from bus drivers who have told her they could face discipline if they get up out of their seats in order to intervene in an incident on a bus.

A spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg says bus drivers have training on how to handle problem passengers.

"Operators are trained to notify the Transit Control Centre immediately in situations where violence is involved. The Control Centre dispatches appropriate responders. Operators have also been trained on de-escalation techniques and may employ them when appropriate," the spokesperson said in an email statement.

In May, the city announced that as part of the 2018 budget it could spend up to $710,000 to hire five full-time security staff, create four new positions called "point duty officers," expand its surveillance system and hire one more instructor to train drivers to defuse conflict along with three drivers to allow the training to happen.

Winnipeg Police Service is reviewing the security camera footage, but so far no suspects have been identified.

"It's a very serious assault. It's tragic when something like this happens and I think it shocks Winnipeggers for sure," Const. Rob Carver said.

Walker says if she had to, she'd stand up again on a bus.